Three reasons why Tennessee should not ban gender affirming care for minors | Opinion

Jace Wilder
·4 min read
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Editor's note: The Tennessean has been covering the concern, controversy and legislation surrounding gender affirming care from the reaction of elected officials to the pushback concerning from advocates of transgender youth. This issue has spurred debate across the community. You can link to other views below. Two pillars of The Tennessean’s opinion and engagement mission is to welcome diverse viewpoints and amplify underrepresented views.

In 2018, there were 19 bills proposed across the U.S. looking to restrict access to gender-affirming care for youth. After years of debate, Tennessee passed a ban on pre-pubescent care for transgender minors in 2021.

This was the first transgender healthcare restriction bill to pass in the state. Then, in last year’s legislative session, a bill similar to SB1 by Sen. Johnson's bill was proposed and was voted down due to its extreme measures.

How is it that a ban, that only last year was seen as too extreme in this state by its leaders, is being pushed through now? The factor that may come to mind is what we keep hearing: “It's to protect the kids from mutilation." This isn’t the case.

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Why this is not about the safety of kids

First, if the goal was to rid of surgical mutilation of genitals in this state, Senate Bill 1 would not exclude so many. For example, intersex people, or people who were born with the presentation of more than one sex, have advocated against genital surgery on youth for years. InterACT, an intersex advocacy group, argues that the surgeries given to intersex babies are indeed genital mutilation especially since a child can not consent.

Jace Wilder, 21, leads a protest following the 2022 Pride parade in Nashville , Tenn., Saturday, June 25, 2022.
Jace Wilder, 21, leads a protest following the 2022 Pride parade in Nashville , Tenn., Saturday, June 25, 2022.

The argument, however, is not to fully ban access to care but rather require the consent of the child after receiving proper medical guidance at a state’s recognized age of informed consent.

If the concern is the safety of care but the state ignores the multiple healthcare organizations that detest this legislation, have created science-backed practices for medical providers to follow, and exempt other practices, such as intersex “normalization” surgeries, then it is not about the safety of kids.  Knowing this, the answer to concerns about the ethics of care isn’t criminalizing it, it is investing in safe and ethical practices. The choice to go beyond this is a statement of political power using a vulnerable group, not public health.

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This is why medical care for minors matters

Second, transgender kids and their families have ensured lawmakers the outcomes will not be what they desire. Just the mere existence of these bills creates a more hostile environment for trans youth and more health disparities for trans youth as they increase stress.

One of the points of accessing care before 18 is to ensure that a child has established care, can go through puberty during the expected age so as to not be further excluded from their peers, and the family has access to medical counseling to help support their child before it's too late.

Lack of access to care has been proven to increase gender dysphoria, increase rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety, and decrease that child’s both mental and physical safety.

Medical access to care, as instructed by medical standards, helps the family navigate the diagnosis of gender dysphoria. However, for youth that receives medical care, it is because it was determined there was no waiting until adulthood because simply, they will not make it. There is only one form of irreversible damage and it is death, especially one endorsed by the state.

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Political gain is the real reason for the bill

Lastly, an appeal to heaven. The message sold is that the state is saving these families from regret while ignoring 97% of transgender youth who grow up to be transgender adults and the plea of their own constituents. The dollars spent in court on fighting this bill that violates the rights of families will come out of Tennessean's pockets of course and in the end, benefit no one but the folks looking for political gain.

It is saddening to see the leaders of Tennessee align themselves with the politics of the moment and destroy the climate built from years of constituents in their offices. I am asking, as a native Tennessean, transgender man, and a public health scientist: do not let the state overreach, dismiss the voices of Tennesseans and determine our lives.

This is our state as well, we shouldn’t have to defend ourselves from our own government. If SB1 passes,  it will no longer be a slippery slope to ask if it is your neighbor’s family now, when will it be yours?

Jace Wilder (he/they) is a transgender man who is native to Tennessee and is the education manager for Tennessee Equality Project.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Three reasons not to ban gender affirming care for minors in Tennessee